Arlington: Ange Postecoglou will return to Asian football for his next challenge, signing a two-year deal with Al-Nassr, the leading Saudi Arabian club captained by Cristiano Ronaldo.
Postecoglou has been out of work after being sacked as Nottingham Forest boss in October following a disastrous eight-game, 39-day stint at the Premier League club – the longest inactive period in his coaching career since he was sacked as Australian youth coach.
Postecoglou still holds aspirations of winning trophies at the highest level, and so a move away from Europe comes as a major surprise. However, coaching Al-Nassr is one of the most high-profile gigs in the sport, due to the club’s immense spending power and the presence of Ronaldo, the 41-year-old Portuguese superstar who has played for the Riyadh outfit since the end of the last World Cup in 2022.
“A new chapter. Mr Ange Postecoglou appointed as head coach of the Al-Nassr first team. The contract spans two seasons,” the club said in a statement.
“We wish him and his staff every success in their journey.”
The quote from Postecoglou used on the social media post announcing his appointment is a famous one: “At all my previous clubs, it ends the same. With me and a trophy.”
Al-Nassr, the biggest club in one of football’s emerging epicentres, are majority owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, and were crowned champions of the Saudi Pro League last season.
Postecoglou, 60, replaces Portuguese manager Jorge Jesus in the dugout, taking over a squad that also includes Joao Felix, Sadio Mane, Kingsley Coman and numerous Saudi internationals.
He has been working as a pundit for British broadcaster ITV during the World Cup and, since leaving Forest, as a technical adviser to UEFA.
Postecoglou previously managed Tottenham Hotspur, whom he guided to Europa League glory in 2025, but was sacked two weeks later because of the team’s 17th-placed finish in the Premier League.
He was linked with the Scotland job after Steve Clarke stepped down following their World Cup exit, as well as Kazakhstan – where Scott Munn, the Australian who served as Tottenham’s chief football officer during his tenure in north London, is now the general secretary of the national federation – but media reports said his wage demands were too high for the central Asian side.
How Postecoglou’s trademark style of attacking football, known as “Angeball”, can work in the relentless heat of Saudi Arabia remains to be seen.
